Fame
by Allegra Cadence
Summary: Fame isn't always a good thing... Rehearsals for the upcoming play lead Hermione to jealousy. Ginny gets the lead, Hermione the understudy, and if this play turns out well, it'll be a miracle! Please R/R!!! I need encouragement.


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Fame

Part One: Nervous

"Oh my gosh, I think I'm going to die" Hermione muttered, pacing backstage, ruffling the velvet curtain as she went.

"Gosh Hermione! You'd never think like, a level-headed person like you could be like, nervous! I'm like, so glad I didn't try for the part of Lily I'd be like, more nervous than you!" Parvati giggled. Hermione sighed, unable to stand another minute of her fake-niceness and her fake accent. Everyone in the bloody school knew she was not American! It was sickening.

"Brown, Lavender!" McGonagall's voice rang through the auditorium. She peered through the curtains. "Where is she?"

"Here Professor! Right here! Sorry, I was fixing my hair" Lavender stumbled into the entrance with 3" platform shoes and an overflowing makeup bag.

"There you are. Come along. I understand you wish to play the part of Mary Prewitt" They drifted through the sound-proof curtain. Everyone exhaled.

"Finally! She's gone. Now we can get some peace and quiet" Someone said loudly. Everyone laughed nervously. Even Harry, who was obviously going for the part of James, was white as a sheet.

"Ginny Weasley! Come here dear Lily, I presume?" McGonagall's voice greeted the young girl with enthusiasm and a melodius tone. All the girls who wished to play the part of Lily shook their heads and groaned.

Ginny was the perfect Lily. Green eyes, flaming red hair with copper highlights, and an acting career in full steam, she made even the most self-confident people like Cho Chang nervous. Lately, she had been in four issues of Teen People and was now working on a commercial with Jane cosmetics. And on top of all that, she was a good and smart student, rivaling everyone in her class. Yet somehow, everyone found it really difficult to hate her. She was just too nice.

"Darn, there goes my chance!" Hermione muttered to herself, searching the crowd for anyone familiar. Ron was talking to Lavender, who was finished with her audition, and Harry was gone.

"Miss Granger!" The Professor's voice rang through the audience like a bell in a church.

"Right here" She scurried through the curtain to find 4 familiar professors watching her.

"Hello, Professor Flitwick, Professor McGonagall, Headmaster Dumbledore, Professor Snape. Nice to see you I am here to try out for the part of Lily, if you wouldn't mind." Hermione said, very politely.

"Well we may as well make you look the part Cosmetro Lily Potter!" Dumbledore said loudly, turning Hermione into a slightly altered Lily. She was still short, and her hair was still frizzy. Thank goodness Hermione had the same voice she would never get used to a different one.

"We'd like you to read this line What is it again?" Flitwick squeaked, rummaging through his papers.

"Oh James, I cannot leave you! And Harry! We must protect our son! We must stick together, when times are rough, remember? Now, say this with a demanding sadness. He-who-must-not-be-named has supposedly found you, and James is telling you to leave. Begin when ready." McGonagall said with resounding passion. Hermione was bewildered.

Hermione thought to herself. _If I was Lily, and Voldemort was going to get not only me, but also my husband and son, what would I feel like?_

"Oh James! I cannot leave you and Harry! We must save our son! We must stick together, when times are bad," She let out a realistic sob, "remember?" And fell to her feet.

"Wonderful. Cosmetro Hermione Granger! Next!" Snape said grudgingly, scribbling down things on a pad of paper.

"Thank you. Very much." Hermione skipped offstage, a nagging voice in the back of her head telling her she did terribly.

"Well? How was it?" A familiar voice greeted her outside.

"Hey Harry! It was okay, I guess. They didn't say anything, but I tried, and I'm pretty sure I got the lines screwed up but against Ginny? I have no chance." Hermione grumbled."Well, there's always hope, right?" He grinned.

"I guess so. What about you?"

"I did fine. Normal, I guess, but I can't help feeling like the decision has been made for me. As I was leaving, Snape even said 'Why did he even try out? It's not like he didn't bloody have the part already, you'd give it to him whether he forgot every word or not.'" Harry sighed, subconsciously touching his scar, as if it were the only reminder he had that he was different than his father.

"I wish this wasn't such a big deal. It's hard enough trying to get in and be the part but now, McGonagall announced that we would be playing in that humongus theatre in Hogsmeade, and tickets are 3/4 of the way sold out already" Hermione sighed. It's not like there wasn't enough pressure put on them already Now they would be performing in front of a packed house. Everyone with their eyes on them!

"It won't be so bad. You'll see." Harry reminded her.

"Hey!" Ron greeted them loudly. Hermione jumped, startled. "They're posting the results in 5 minutes on the other side of the school! Come on!"

They raced through corridors, secret passageways, and up and down staircases. They made it just in time.

"Coming through, coming through!" McGonagall's voice rang through the crowded hallway. "Should I post them, read them, or read them and post them?"

"Read them then post them!" The booming voices said in unison.

"Alright Harry Potter will play James Potter; the understudy is Terry Boot. Lily Potter is being played by Ginny Weasley; understudy is Hermione Granger. Ronald Weasley will play the part of Remus Lupin; understudy is Sam Atkins. Sirius Black will be played by Seamus Finnigan; understudy is Dean Thomas, and last but definitely not least of the main characters, Draco Malfoy will play You-Know-Who; no understudy. I will post the rest." The scroll flew to the opposite wall. A surge of people bunched in to gather a look. Being small definitely had its advantages, as Hermione bustled her way to the front. The scroll read:

__

Support Parts:

Peter Pettigrew: Colin Creevey

Mary Prewitt: Lavender Brown

Geoffrey Prewitt: Blaise Zambini

Joanne Bones: Cho Chang

Donald Bones: Jacob Hail

Extras:

You-Know-Who Followers: Hannah Abbott, Vincent Goyle, Angelina Johnson

Townspeople: Fred and George Weasley, Katie Bell, Parvati Patil

Narrator: Katrina Davis

"Rehearsal will be today at 5 o'clock!" McGonagall reminded them.

__

Understudy The nagging voice rang in Hermione's head. _Not good enough to be number one, I see? You could have done better, but the gorgeous and evil Ginny Weasley took your part, right? You'll see just how good that little snot is at rehearsal_

Hermione shook her head and cleared those nasty thoughts. It wasn't like her to be thinking as such! She forgot all about them and made her way to lunch.

***

"LAAA!" Lavender screeched, claiming she was working out her voice by doing scales. "LAAAAA!"

Hermione covered her ears in pain. Lavender's shrill voice was not one to be listened to for long periods of time brain damage may result.

"Hand these out for me, will you?" McGonagall handed her a large stack of scripts, with gold embossed letters saying, "A Night to Remember".

"No problem" Hermione grumbled, handing a script to anyone she passed by. She had to throw it in the Lavender-claimed bathroom area unable to stand the opera she was now singing. Keeping one for herself, she made her way to the front of the stage and sat on the apron. Others gathered around her.

"As you know, this is being sponsored by the Defense Against the Dark Arts League. We will do three, one and a half hour productions, one for every day. It will premier in three weeks. Sets are in the making, as are costumes. Yes Lavender, we have all of your sizes." She said to the girl who was raising her hand high in the air. She continued to the rest of the people. "Three weeks for you to memorize, act, and work your best on this stage. Your lines must be memorized by next week. Understudies must come to every rehearsal, three times a week, from 3-5. If we pull this off, it will be a miracle." McGonagall sighed. "You are dismissed."

Hermione scanned the pages of the rather long script. She would have a lot of lines to memorize, even though she would probably never use them. She flipped a random page, near the end. It read:

__

Lily: Oh James, I cannot leave you! And Harry! We must protect our son! We must stick together, when times are rough, remember?

__

James: No Lily, go. Save yourself and our son. I will handle him.

Lily: No! We must stick together! I love you!

(A passionate kiss is held between them)

Hermione's cheeks burned with rage and jealousy. Ginny would get to share a "passionate kiss" with Harry- and she knew she had gotten the line wrong! She internally scolded herself for being jealous, it wasn't like they were even a couple _What has gotten into me today?_

She brushed the thought out of her mind and made her way to dinner, thinking about all the strange thoughts she's been having lately.

If all worked out well, it would be a miracle.

A/N and Disclaimer: This is a revised edition of a story I wrote a long, long time ago, and I think it's much better this way, but tell me what you think by reviewing!!! Thank you so much. I don't own anything. No profit is being made whatsoever.

*Allegra Cadence*


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